CYSIN: Whirl Wind Wednesday (4/27)

What good would a biking blog be without discussing food!

At least that is what the culinary experts I hang around with, called Team ROMEO, would say.

And, those ROMEOs have also taught me a lot about "dreaming". 

Pick a destination.  Dream about it. Get out your maps.  And, make a dream come true by riding your bike to that chosen destination.

Dang!  Those ROMEOs are so deliciously romantic!

Marie Catribs is a little romantic place for big dreamers!

Today's post is about a little dream trip:

Destination:  Grand Rapids, MI
Distance:  316 Miles from Stow, OH
Anticipated Weather:  Crappy!  Winds,
                                    Thunderstorms and only God knows what else!

....

Headed to the BIG State!

Big Lakes

Big Shoreline

Big Sports Teams

Big House

BIG DEAL!

Batten Down the Hatches...we are heading into bad weather!

I don't know a lot about the state of Michigan.  Actually, I have only visited the place once for a four day 2006 fall golf outing.  We stayed somewhere between the "thumb" and the "middle knuckle" of the index finger.  You know...that dumb hand thing!

I suppose I need to overcome my general distaste for the state.  I understand there are some great places to bike there. So, a little conversion may be in order for this "Bay Stater".

However, let me be clear.  I'll never warm up to the lowly wolverines, or the hapless red wings.  And frankly, who gives a hoot about the tigers.  It still bugs me that die hard Buckeye fans root for the tigers...just because they live in Toledo.  You call that loyalty?  Whatever! 

So here is my bottom line.  If it were not for future biking options, I am not that interested.  Sorry for these harsh words.

Let's just say a certain Mr. Desmond Howard Heisman pose in a Rose Bowl game, against the purple and white of the University of Washington Huskies, rubbed me the wrong way.

Though we were living in Seattle, that's the day I became a Buckeye fan! (January 1, 1992!)

The Huskies “mushed” the wolverines 34-14.  Although they were undefeated for the season, UW was not crowned National Champions that year. That was disappointing.

However, all that really matters, they beat the team from the big house!  Go BUCKS!

One thing I am interested in is a family that I care about.  Meet the "Bs" (again):

Daughter Rachel, BFF Mike  B, wife Kelly, son Aaron 

Rachel, a junior at Calvin College, had plans to drive herself home for Easter weekend.   But there was a problem.  She had a tough week of late night studies.

Friday morning, of the Good day, she called her folks with the news she was too tired to drive home by herself.  When Kelley got home from work Friday evening, she and Mike made the 11-hour round trip to Grand Rapids to retrieve Rachel.

They rolled back into Stow at 4:00 am Saturday morning. If you remember from my post Holy COW Saturday, Mike had a big performance Saturday night with Summit Choral Society. The all day pre-performance rehearsal started at 9:00 am. It's a wonder his eyes were still open at all in this family picture. 

The concert was great.  Easter gave us a day of sunshine.  I wrote about Monday's moon light.  And, then there was that Traumatic Tuesday thingee. 

I suppose I needed a break from biking riding...since I re-injured my right knee in my failure to "clip out" fall on Tuesday.  I volunteered to make the return trip back to Michigan with Mike and Rachael.

When I got to their place around 11:00 am Wednesday morning, there was a little surprise waiting in their drive way.

It seems a certain high school brother had pranked his visiting college sister by hiding behind the shower curtain in their bathroom.  When Rachel walked in to the bathroom to brush her teeth, Aaron leaped from behind the shower curtain. 

I heard she almost swallowed her tooth brush!

Here is the "I have returned to college" surprise she left on her brother's white car.  One of the better "pay back pranks" I've ever seen.  A college education is good for something!   

A "few sticky notes" and a bunch of saran wrap!

Green Box: Rachel doing her Van White impression over Aaron’s once only white Acura. 

Red Box: So…you have to read front and back to get…the ”Got Ya!” gotcha.  REB could be code for Rebel, or Aaron resulting rebellion, or just Rachel’s initials.  I am thinking the “E” for her middle name might be “Excellent!”  Or, “Exquisite”, or just plain “Electrifying Elizabeth”

  

Rachel's notes were not the only messages we would be getting as we started our journey west.

Mike has a computer consulting business.  So, in his "hybrid" Ford Escape (a suitable Michigan by-product), I felt like we were in a storm tracking vehicle loaded with gadgets: Two Garmin GPSs, HAM radio, Verizon 4G LTE mobile broadband connection, DC to AC power converter, three laptops, three digital cell phones and "good spirits" for a day's adventure.

Beep, beep, beep:  I got an email message on my phone that the ROMEOs aborted their Wednesday afternoon ride after only pedaling seven miles.  They could not beat the head winds.

Beep, beep, beep: Got Ya! text message from Aaron: “What the beep happened to my car?” (ok…delete the beep here…Aaron being an Eagle Scout does not say bad words!)

Beep, beep, beep: Received an SOS message from Murray...I am canceling my ABC Monday rides for the rest of the year.  It seems that his Monday's in April were a bit soggy. (ok...I just made that up...maybe he will get a sunny day soon..."Got church?")

Beep, beep, beep:  "Back On Two Wheels" posted about, "When is enough WIND too much to ride!"  Check out her Drawing The Line biking ponderings.

Beep, beep, beep:  We didn't have the weather radio of the HAM system turned on...but we didn't need one (that was me beeping in the back seat).  As we were cutting north above Toledo, the skies turned torrential dark and Rachel's tight grip on the steering wheel, to told hold off strong and gusty winds, tighten to a "white knuckle" grip as we were blasted by sheets, and sheets of April's sunshine.

Under Ground Weather Provided this "Breeze Report" 

Sustained winds peak at 20 mph...gusts of 48 mph

It seems that praying, while trembling, in the back seat is a good thing.  We broke through and found radiant sunshine on the back side of the front.

In calmer seas rolling towards Grand Rapids, we got all techie.

Mike created a new biking blog.  I experimented with sending "spam" messages on facebook with hopes of increasing my blog followers from "three" to a greater number.  Rachel loosened her grip on the wheel and steered us safely back to school.

For my part, let me apologize here for "hey look at my blog" spamming activity.  Things have been a little slow in terms of gaining followers for this blog…about as slow as I have been in completing timely posts.

At last check, I am still batting with Babe Ruth's uniform number "3" ...for the third hitter in the yankees line up...when they started numbering uniforms...way back then.

When Babe left the yankees (good riddens...The Curse of the Great Bambino!), he wore number "35" as a first base coach with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  That would be a nice number of followers to be waving around the "bases" of this cycling blog!

So, step up to the "plate" and be a “Follower” of this blog.  Or, at least amuse me.  Here are some options to consider:

• Be a "pretend follower" by clicking on “follow option” if you’re a blogger...top left of the menu line above.
• Or, subscribe to this blog via your email account…where you will get update message when I add new content.
• Or, just check back often. (I hope the blog improves to your liking!)

After dropping off Rachel luggage on campus, we headed to East Hill for a bite to eat.  The view, for late afternoon ride, from the back seat was just gorgeous as we weaved through historic neighborhoods which junctioned into small clusters of business/retail communities.  Cyclists were to be everywhere!

Maybe my conversion was beginning.  This state seems pretty special after all.

And, the weather is so wonderful here!  It makes me think, "Toto...were not in Kansas!"

Could Michigan Really Be the land of OZ?

Ken (the COW) says, "Oh, that Dorothy is a doll!" 

Barbie is a tad bit jealous!

Just like "Dorothy", Michigan is "easy on the eyes"

We pulled into East Hill and located one of the "B's" special dining destinations, Marie Catrib's, that marqueed the opening of this post.   It was easy to see that this restaurant was located in a vibrant and colorful community

As we where seated in the dining room, it was easy to look at the internal splashes of pastel colors.  While gazing out the viewing advantageous cornered windows, we observed more hues. 

It was as if we were seeing all the dazzling colors of a rainbow in this very pleasant place

When our ordered meals came, the easily fantastic views continued.

 Selected Dinner Selections!

Green Box: COW's plate:  The Husky-Varna…Homemade stuffed meatloaf made with local beef and pork, stuffed with cheese, roasted red pepper and spices and served open-face with provolone cheese and marinara sauce on your choice of grilled bread.  Served with a side of smashed seasoned potatoes.

Red Box: Rachel's and Mike's plates:  The Vegan Dinner Chef's Special: Stand alone stacked lasagna made with portabella mushrooms, hand made noodles, and smooth tasting local goat cheese seasoned with fresh oregano and garlic.

Somewhere, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a flat screen TV that was flashing more vibrant colors...but not pleasant colors.  Angry reds and yellows were racing across the screen in a fury.

It appeared that serious Doppler weather patterns were impacting another part of the country.

The Doppler weather servers forecast proved its predictions true.  When the storms of the south departed, there were not many rainbows to be seen.

Kansas like Tornados...

Hit Southern States bring Horrific Losses

No Green Box or Red Box words are needed here.

There is going to be a lot of clean up and a lot of mourning over losses.

Lives, with shattered and scattered pieces, are going to have be put back together...one piece at a time. 

These folks will need many blessings from many people to match the guaranteed Blessing from Above for…God knows the Master Plan.

Tuscaloosa Alabama Wind Gusts nearly off the Charts

When we were getting ready to leave Marie Catribs, we were not aware of the true happenings.  If we had seen this wind history, we would have certainly been more thankful for the "state" we were in.

Without knowledge of catastrophic disasters, our clean up involved scraping out the remains of a wonderful chocolate dessert to take back home for Mom Kelly.

Putting a wrap on Dinner!

Green Box: Riding in a hybrid has it privileges…at least in Grand Rapids…front row restaurant parking!

Red Box: Rachel dissects, with the skills of a surgeon with a butter knife, the remains of the dessert serving dish to fully load the take home container with every last morsel of goodness.

As we returned to campus, we turned left and drove parallel to the "Turnberry Bike Trail".  The sights of real “alternative fuel vehicles” did not disappoint.

 It seems that the berry flavor of the day was "Pretty Pink!" 

No frontal head winds hampering this youthful rider!
Snapped picture from back seat of Escape.
We "cagers" all wanted to escape our encasement and pedal the "Turnberry" with her. 

We did not have the chance to ride our bikes on Wednesday.  But we left Grand Rapids with a good biking vision. Mike and I were delighted in pink to talk “bikes” on the way home including:

• Schwinn Restorations
• Taking the Lane
• Gearing Applications
• And, our goal to use Stan Purdum's book as a guide for a few “Pedaling to lunch" rides.

Thanks for sharing the ride.

More to follow...

Remember: Ride Safe!

So...can you dial in a guess from this version of the puzzle?
If you can, leave your response in the comment section below!

PS – When I was discussing this post with Mike B, before hitting the publish button, he said to be sure to mention two of the most important parts of the trip.

First being COW’s willingness to ride along.  It is a tough trip to make alone, but from many prior experiences, the return trip back to Stow is really tough if done all alone.  The second important thing was a “rest stop” connection on the return trail

Being a Wednesday night, highway 80 traffic was light.  When we pulled into east bound service plaza in Amherst at 10:45 pm…twenty four miles west of the Highway 71 interchange…there were only a handful of cars in the parking area.

As we got out of the Ford Escape, Mike was approached by an elderly black man.  I could tell the nature of the approach was to seek some sort of financial assistance. 

Mike reached for his wallet. Though the transaction was shielded from my sight, Mike obliged after listening to the story. 

I heard the man say, “Thank you very much”.

When we where on the way to the rest room, I asked Mike for the story. 

It seems the man, his daughter and granddaughter were in the process of traveling to Cleveland from Dayton.  They had driven up Highway 75 to connect to Highway 80.  This being one of the country’s largest interstate intersections called the “Crossroads of America”.

They too had stopped at Amherst to refuel.  But, they discovered father/grandfather had left behind his wallet.  With no cash for gas or turnpike exit fees…these travelers were stranded…at another “Crossroads of America”.    

As we continued walking we both grimaced. Ouch!  That story sounded too good to be true, but what can you do.  Mike responded faithfully.

I only learned two weeks later that Mike only had two bills in his wallet when the man in need approached.  One was a twenty, the other a fifty. 

When Mike got home with the “doggy box” dessert for Kelley, he told her the full story.  He then handed her the twenty dollar bill from his wallet.

We may have been far away from the real destruction of life and livelihoods, this “Whirlwind Wednesday”, but crossroads of action may be needed on any trail…for someone in trial.

PSS – Hey Brother-In-Law:  I hope these reflections get us out of your jail for spamming you with “biking blog poetry requests” on the eve of the bad storms in the South.  Sometimes one can only see the road in front ourselves.  Peace out.